Cherimon:  A Day Alone
by Alex The Gopher
Summary: Alex finally confesses his love to Charlie, but it's a little too late.
1. Say You're Joking

"I know that Charlie, but I mean I'm _in_ love with you" Alex nervously spat out. He looked up from the table almost afraid to see how his friend would respond. "No" Charlie whispered shaking his head. "Alex, if you just say you're joking, I'll pretend I never heard that." Charlie's body appeared to be shaking. "I'm not joking. I've felt this way since we met" Alex said, hurt by his mates' reaction. The other man still lightly trembled until he stood up from the table, no longer able to keep silent. "Alex I'm leaving" he finally said. Alex nodded his head expecting his friend needed some time to think. "I'll be back tomorrow at half two" Charlie continued. "I'll be taking all my things and moving out. You really shouldn't be here when I show up." Alex couldn't believe what he was hearing, but he didn't protest. As Charlie walked toward the door Alex turned the other way, knowing he couldn't watch his mate leave. When he heard the door slam his eyes filled with tears and he began to sob uncontrollably.

Glancing back down at the table he saw a rolled up old news paper, he grabbed it and walked to Charlie's room. He just needed time to process the situation. As he stepped into the room his gaze landed on a figure who was sitting on the bed, with its arms crossed, looking very disappointed. It was Charlie. "Oh, don't tell me, I missed another scene from melodramatic poofter theatre" the younger boy said sarcastically. Alex wasn't fazed by the impossible sight of his flat-mate or his harsh words. "Let's be honest, it was cute at first. You'd confess your love and he'd be all like 'I love you too mate, lets snog!' But at this point, you're just torturing yourself." Alex stared at the other man, but didn't make a sound. "Ok, so I died and you're sad. I get that, but that was two and a half months ago Alex. You gotta move on!" Alex began to speak as the tears streamed from his eyes. "But I just wish I could have told you how much I love you."

"That doesn't matter, Alex" Charlie informed him, changing his tone. "Besides, you can't keep kicking yourself over what you didn't do. Right now it's all about what you can do. You can get back out there and have a life again. I don't have that choice." Charlie stood up and walked over to Alex. "You were always the stronger one, so why are you letting this ruin you?" Alex hung his head and thought until his tears stopped flowing. "I don't know, maybe you're right. Maybe it is time to push these images from head and finally move on." He glanced back up to look the other man in the eyes, but Charlie was gone. Alex looked down at the rolled up news paper in his hand, glancing quickly at the article on the front page. The title read: _Drowsy Lorry Driver Kills Young Man in Car Accident_.


	2. Everything I Need

Alex gripped the paper firmly and made his way to his own room. He picked a pair of scissors up from his desk and began cutting the article out. He then held it in one hand and threw the rest of the paper across the room. In his peripheral vision he saw the news paper land by another object. Turning in that direction, he walked over to it to get a better look. It was a piece of paper torn from a hotel note pad. _GOODNIGHT ALEX _had been written on it, with a heart drawn around the sweet message. He laid the article on top of the note, folding them together and found an envelope to save them in. An idea promptly sprung to Alex' mind and he walked to his closet. When he'd opened the door and looked down he saw a large empty shoe box. He picked it up sliding the envelope under the lid and rushed back over to Charlie's room.

He sat the box on the floor and started collecting some of Charlie's old stuff including a Yoshi PVC and a small TARDIS replica. The larger one now belonged to Charlie's brother, Will. Alex began to remember the day Charlie's mum, Lindsay, brought her children over to pick up some of her late sons' belongings. That day Bridie, Charlie's sister, had taken his Adipose stuffed plush. What stuck with Alex the most about that day was what Lindsay told him before they left the flat. _You're not just my sons' good friend anymore. You're part of this family now. If you ever need to talk, but your friends or even your mother is unavailable, you can always call me_. That was Alex' happiest moment since Charlie died. Just the memory of it cheered him up a bit, as he continued collecting Charlie's things. Alex finished gathering the items and reached for the box's lid to place it on top, when he heard a voice.

"Hurry up, we're gonna miss our plane!" Alex looked up to see Charlie in the doorway smiling down at him. "Plane?" Alex asked. "Uh… Yeah, it's only Vid-Con 2011! The whole band's gonna be there to perform songs off of the new album. Aren't you ready to go yet?" the younger man asked eagerly. "Yeah, of course" Alex assured him. "Well, let's get out of here then." The young man walked out into the living room, toward the front door, until the older man ran ahead stopping in front of him. "Wait! Are you sure you're ready to go?" he asked with a bit of a trimmer in his voice. Charlie looked deep into his best friend's eyes to reply. "Yeah, mate. I've got everything I need in order to leave!" "Ok" Alex nodded and opened the door to let Charlie through. "Oh God," Alex said pretending to remember something. "Go on, I'll be right down I just need to grab one more thing." Charlie looked back at him. "Alright, but don't take too long the cab's already been waiting a while." Charlie walked into the hallway as his friend closed the door. Alex leaned against it. A single tear ran down his cheek. He quickly retrieved his box of Charlie's stuff and walked back to his room.

Kneeling on the floor by his bed Alex lifted the shoe box's lid and removed a photo of Charlie smiling. He simply gazed at it and whispered, "I'm really gonna miss you, Charlie. But I'm gonna keep you close" He said as he dropped the picture into the box and put the lid back on. He then slid the it under his bed and grabbed his phone. Dialing a number, he placed it to his ear and spoke. "Hey, it's Alex… Yeah, I'm finally getting out of this flat for a bit. Where do you wanna go?"


End file.
